and summer is gone. -- A. Bartlett Giamatti, "The Green
Fields of the Mind"

Bart Giamatti's ode to baseball is not just a reminder to those of
us who love our national pastime with a passion that hope always
springs eternal for us fans whose teams didn't make the playoffs.

It is likewise a reminder that after that the last out in the
World Series we will once again be left to face a nation beset by
political scandal, executive ineptitude and natural disasters
compounded by man-made disasters, and enmeshed in an immoral and
economically motivated war costing thousands of innocent lives.

There is no denial that baseball periodically has its own
problems, ranging from steroids to a commissioner who sees his office
as an owner protectorate. In contrast, Giamatti saw his role as
preserving the integrity of the game; the game survives. Fortunately,
from the gambling addiction of a Pete Rose to a Rafael Palmeiro in
steroid denial to the greed of an Alex Rodriguez, those are easily
overshadowed by the genuineness of a Cal Ripken Jr., a Manny Ortiz, a
Tony Gwynn, a Jamie Moyer in their love of playing the game as it
should be played.

When one contrasts the problems baseball faced this past summer,
however, they pale when contrasted with the events and occurrences
that have been swirling outside the stadia.

We have seen the president and the Republicans constantly on the
defensive while the Democrats have managed only to meekly challenge
the administration's ineptitude. President Bush has shown this
ineptitude in turning his back on Cindy Sheehan and her simple
question of why her son had to be sacrificed in a war with no end; in
his inability to marshal the vast resources of the federal government
to alleviate the suffering of the Gulf victims of Hurricane Katrina;
in his insistence that he has the ability to bring democracy to a
Middle East country that has resisted such a concept for centuries;
and in the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice whose only real
qualification is her longtime friendship with the president.

At the same time, we have seen the Republican leader of the House
of Representatives fight money laundering charges; the Republican
leader in the Senate fight off allegations of dubious stock
transactions; and skyrocketing gasoline prices, a growing immigration
problem, impending inflation and a domestic program in complete
disarray.

Yet, as domestic and political disarray prevails, hardly a
discouraging word has been heard from the Democratic Party, which
recently occasioned Ralph Nader to ask:

"Democrats in Congress had the power to block John Roberts from
becoming the next Supreme Court justice. Did they? They did not.

"The Democrats in Congress had the power to block Christopher Cox
from becoming the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Did they? They did not.

"The Democrats in Congress had the power at least to block
Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales. Did they? They did not.

"The Democrats in Congress have the power to propose impeachment
proceedings against George Bush for the fabricated, illegal,
boomeranging war in Iraq. Will they? They will not.

"Almost every major progressive leader in America understands
this. They understand that the Democratic Party is gone.

"But you know what? If Hillary Clinton is nominated in 2008 by the
Democrats to run for president, they will support her. They will
support her even though she is a corporate Democrat who opposes us on
the war in Iraq, on real universal health insurance, on the swollen,
wasteful military and corporate welfare budgets, on a national living
wage -- on all the issues we care about.

"They will abandon their principles, their constituents and the
lessons of history -- and support her, as they supported John Kerry
in 2004 even though he was a corporate Democrat in the Hillary mold
-- who stood four-square against us on the war, on the military
budget, on national health insurance, on a national living wage."

Liberals and progressives who have become totally disillusioned
with the Democratic Party might well prepare for the 2008 elections
not by focusing so much of their energy on the White House but by
following baseball's tried and true formula for winning ball games --
get on base, move the runners along and then simply and successfully
score by reaching home.